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Yesterday I offered my advice on what you may need to do to break into the TV business. I guess much of it could apply to other professions. I received some positive feedback, and there's one thing I want to clarify: A college education is not the be-all and end-all. I was referring to people who want to get into the network television business, i.e. become an executive. I was not referring to the creative part of the business. Did not mean to offend anyone.
Today I want to share with you a post from my blog, Revenge of the Masked Scheduler, in which I talked about my inspirations. It's important to have them. They are my personal Mount Rushmore.
"For over 20 years, whenever someone walked into my office these images were on the wall behind my desk:
- Rod Serling -- imagination, the art of storytelling and the element of surprise.
-Burns and Allen -- before there was "Seinfeld."
- Rocky and Bullwinkle -- successful primetime animation works on two levels. "The Simpsons," "Family Guy" and "South Park" owe them a lot, and they made the Cold War funny for us kids.
- Howdy Doody -- my father owned a grocery store (bodega) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Wonder Bread delivery guy would give him tickets for "The Howdy Doody Show," and on several occasions, I was a member of the Peanut Gallery. At a very young age television was demystified to me. I saw Clarabelle talk and smoke and Howdy dangling from the side of the stage. I also pulled Gabby Hays' whiskers, COWABUNGA!!!!!!
- Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, "The Honeymooners" -- the gold standard.
- Ernie Kovacs -- the medium was part of his method and message.
They are always with me, and I turn to them for inspiration. Everyone who works in this fakakta business should have their muses. If someone can't tell you what shows and what people inspired them to work in television -- and tell it to you with passion -- don't hire or promote them. Oh, and I keep my NYC Hack license on the door to my office. Always good to remember where you came from.”
***
Feel free to email me with your personal Mount Rushmore at masked.scheduler@gmail.com and the Twitter is @maskedscheduler
Shows are piling up. Ugh.

Note: The CW was pre-empted in New York for baseball, which may result in greater adjustments than usual in the final ratings.

The numbers for Wednesday:

Time

Show

Adults 18-49 Rating/Share

Viewers (millions)

8 p.m.

Little Big Shots (NBC) – F

1.1/5

7.16

Masterchef (FOX)

1.1/5

3.62

Undercover Boss (CBS) – R

0.6/3

3.49

The Goldbergs (ABC) – R

0.6/3

3.04

Arrow (The CW) – R

0.2/1

1.05

8:30 p.m.

Speechless (ABC) – R

0.6/3

2.45

9 p.m.

The Carmichael Show (NBC)

0.8/4

3.77

The F Word with Gordon Ramsay (FOX)

0.8/4

2.44

Modern Family (ABC) – R

0.7/3

2.97

Criminal Minds (CBS) – R

0.6/3

4.56

Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) – R

0.3/1

1.14

9:30 p.m.

American Housewife (ABC) – R

0.7/3

2.79

Superstore (NBC) – R

0.4/2

2.16

10 p.m.

Steve Harvey’s Funderdome (ABC) – R

0.6/3

2.52

Code Black (CBS) – R

0.5/2

4.17

This Is Us (NBC) – R

0.5/2

2.09

The season finale of “Little Big Shots” on NBC and “Masterchef” on FOX tied for the ratings lead Wednesday night.

Both shows posted a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. “Little Big Shots” was even with last week (and also led the night in viewers with 7.16 million), while “Masterchef” rose two tenths of a point.

NBC’s “Carmichael Show” (0.8) was up 0.1 from its preliminary rating last week and even with its final number. “The F Word” also scored a 0.8 for FOX, on par with its early number from a week ago (it adjusted down in the finals).

Network averages:

FOX

NBC

ABC

CBS

CW

Adults 18-49 rating/share

1.0/4

0.7/3

0.7/3

0.6/3

0.3/1

Total Viewers (millions)

3.03

4.07

2.71

4.07

1.09

Late night metered-market ratings (adults 18-49, households):

11:35 p.m.

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”: 0.7/4, 2.1/6

“Jimmy Kimmel Live”: 0.6/4, 1.8/5

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”: 0.5/3, 2.4/6

12:35 a.m.

“Late Night with Seth Meyers”: 0.4/3, 1.2/4

“Nightline”: 0.3/2, 1.2/4

“The Late Late Show with James Corden”: 0.2/2, 1.1/4

Definitions:

Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings are available at approximately 11 a.m. ET the day after telecast. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns.
Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time.
Time Shifted Viewing: Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live +Same-Day and Live +7 Day. Time-shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs. Live+SD includes viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3 a.m. local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live +7 ratings include viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.

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Posted by:Rick Porter

Rick Porter has been covering TV since the days when networks sent screeners on VHS, one of which was a teaser for the first season of "American Idol." He's left-handed, makes a very solid grilled cheese and has been editor of TV by the Numbers since October 2015. He lives in Austin.